Monday, 22 February 2016

The AT Helpdesk going well

Just a quick note to say that the extra 10 staff on the AT Helpdesk at Vision Australia is going well.

Still accessed via 1300 847 466 or athelp@visionaustralia.org

AC Adapter Exchange from Apple

Just a note about the aC Adapter exchange program: it’s the round duck bill adapters that are the issue, if you have the oval shaped duck bill adapters on your iOS or Mac chargers then you don’t need to worry.

Audio description Search in the iTunes Store now works

The search for Audio Description in the iTunes Store is now working correctly.

My Continuing Adventure in to the Connected Home

I’ve added another product to my Connected Home adventure besides my Netatmo Urban Weather Station, WeMo Switch/Link Light System, and my AirPlay Speakers: that is my new Ring Video Doorbell. Read about my experience so far in setting it up and using it at:

Sunday, 14 February 2016

Changes to the Vision Australia Help Desk

An exciting update to one of Vision Australia’s long running services.

It gives us great pleasure to announce that one of Vision Australia’s longest running and much used services for our customers is about to very quickly get an update.

From February 15th the Vision Australia Adaptive Technology Helpdesk Service, which is currently supported by three staff (two in Victoria and one in NSW), will expand by another ten staff on a roster basis, drawn from our Technology Services staff across Vic, ACT, and NSW.

You will still be able to contact the Vision Australia Adaptive Technology Helpdesk in the same way: by phone (1300 847 466) or by e-mail (athelp@visionaustralia.org). However, having another ten staff assist with the Helpdesk will ensure we have more resources to assist with your query.

The three core Helpdesk staff will continue to support the running of the Helpdesk, however the expansion will allow these specialists to work on other projects to further benefit our customers.

The additional staff are looking forward to the challenge of answering the vast range of queries that come to the Helpdesk. The staff's wide range of knowledge and experience will benefit people who contact the Helpdesk, and vice versa, their Helpdesk experience will in turn benefit customers that the technology service staff will assist outside of the direct Helpdesk function.

We look forward to continuing and expanding the quality of the Vision Australia Adaptive Technology Helpdesk service for you and would like to hear about your experience with our updated service. If you have any queries about the Helpdesk, please feel free to email the Helpdesk on the usual email: athelp@visionaustralia.org, and we will be pleased to answer any queries or concerns you may have.

From your Adaptive Technology Helpdesk Team

Podcasts from Me over the Dec 2015/January 2016 Period

I have been quite busy in January, here are the podcasts so far this year with many more to come on a wider range of hardware and software.

Records continuously the last 60 seconds, and enables it to be saved to a smart phone with a double slap on the device on your wrist.

The iOs/Android app (iOS app is accessible, not sure about the Android version) can be used independently of the wrist band, and offers the same feature as saving the last 60 seconds by using the Stop Record button on the screen to save the recording of the last 60 seconds: works quite well.

Saturday, 13 February 2016

Over 30 Practical reasons What Distinguish’s Apple from the Rest of the Tech Crowd

And yes, I know other platforms can sort of do this kind of stuff, but not as well, not as consistently, not as accessible and finally, it’s just my opinion smile.

1. Siri to quickly do various tasks such as timer for cooking, turn accessibility on/off, launch apps call/message people, or find out where I am.

2. Camera related: light detecter, money reader, FaceTime (what is that can), OCR (reading hard copy documents), and reading in directly iTunes gift cards (don’t have to see to get gift code). Also colour apps to tell what colour clothes you are waring. The Camera app will also allow a person who is blind to take a picture: i.e. iOS will tell the user via VoiceOver if there are faces in the picture, how big/small the faces are and where in the frame they are: so yes, people who are blind can take photos.

3. Apple watch (still main stream smart watch that is fully accessible and not just for people who are blind): Ping iPhone to find where it is, answer/make calls or send/reply to messages without having to get iPhone out of pocket vibrating (Time Buzz) to discretely find the time), activity/heart beat monitor for exercise.. Trash day Apple watch to remind when to take out the Trash (garbage smile).

4. Bluetooth keyboards on iOS, not just typing in to edit fields, but navigating whole OS/apps with screen reader control.

5. Using voice dictation across platforms to get the correct spelling of a word, particularly when doing shopping lists.

6. If using VoiceOver on iPhone talking caller id/read out messages/access to all other inbuilt/3rd party apps (if accessible).

8. Easily watch Audio Described movies on iOS/OS x/TV os: audio described is a separate audio track describing in-between characters talking what is going on in the movie: The Martian is a good example.

9. OS X spell check anywhere within apps, great if your a bad speller: don’t just have to been in a word processor.

10. In OS X: take any document, use Add To iTunes as a Spoken Track under Services, and you have a spoken document that can been be listened to: great for literacy issues or if you just want to listen to a document.

11. On OS X, turn speech on with the Clock (System pref/Date & Time Clock Tab) to have time spoken: great reminder when in a meeting. Also use the Calculator with speech.

12. Speak any iOS screen in iOS by simply turning on in Settings, General, Accessibility, Speech, Speak Screen: great when driving to have a message, mail, etc read to keep eyes on road. Of course, OS X does this as well via a keyboard short-cut in System Preferences, Dictation & Speech, Text to Speech, Speak Selected Text when a Key is Pressed.

13. Using Siri on Apple tv to quickly get to items on the current screen.

14. Hand off between iOs/OS x: excellent when note taking on my iPhone, and can transfer back to the Mac if need to.

15. Use FaceTime audio on the Mac to dial up my voice mail, use number road to tone dial in login/pin number/listen back to messages, and then take notes on Mac (in Notes etc) whilst listening to the voice mails.

16. Read iBooks on both OS X/iOS with text to speech or large print: this is where I do most of my “reading”. Whilst Kindle is not accessible on the Mac for me, iOS version works well. I can start the speech reading, and just sit back and listen: speech will keep reading (no need to turn pages) until I touch the screen.

17. With the Just Press Record complication on the Apple watch: I can quickly start recording when someone wants to give me a reference number, their phone number etc.

18. All my connected home hardware which is simply accessible because the iOS platform is accessible: Ring Video Doorbell, and Belkin lights/switch’s, Netatmo Urban Weather Station.

20. Consistent user interface between using VoiceOver) across OS X/iOS/TV OS/watch os: makes the interface very similar to use across these different platforms. e.g. similar gestures including OS X with the Magic trackpad, Siri Touch Remote, and iOS multi-touch screens.

21. All the apps I use all the time such as Tripview to find time of train/what platform its leaving from/arriving at to meet someone, Audible, Kindle, Overcast, Remote, Find my Phone, Find My Friends, and on and on (smile): currently have 228 used most of the time apps on my iPhone: most of them main stream apps, not assistive: only assistive thing is VoiceOver to access the apps.

22. Taptic feedback in Apple watch in particular as well as the iPhone (different vibrations for different contacts) really enhances the text to speech access as well as vibrations.

23. As a Braille user, I can actually write in Braille in iOS, using print hand writing mode, use the on-screen keyboard, use voice dictation or use a BT keyboard: so many input method to choose from depending on your need (supported by VoiceOver).

24. There are a lot more accessible games on iOS for blind or low vision than for any other platform: good to have fun as well.

25. Bar code readers: to tell what ingredient is in a packet, jar etc.

26. Ask Siri if its sunset or sunrise: if you can’t see and its the middle of the night or you’ve gone overseas, this is somewhat reassuring.

27. Use Find My Friends so friends can track you/meet you at the bus/train etc of or meet partner after work.

28. If I am having a fast chat over Messages: use voice dictation on either oS X/iOs to speed things up.

29. Use Airplay speakers in different parts of house to either play music, or listen to audio books: I tend to use Airfoil on my Mac for this: use Airfoil to pipe music to various Airplay speakers and use iTunes on Mac to listen to audiobooks. One thing great about Airplay verses BT, all accessibility stuff (such as text to speech or large print) stays on local device and doesn’t go through Airplay audio or Airplay video: very neat. My young boys can enjoy my Airplaying aBC iView from my iPhone on to our big TV via airplay and don’t have to put up with listening to VoiceOver.

30. GPS apps such as main stream Navigon/Apple maps or BlindSquare to navigate to a destination and find out what is around me. Also here is iBeacons for indoor navigation, but have not experienced these as yet.

31. Using my Braille display (connects via Bluetooth and brings Braille up in a line that I can feel) when I am doing my radio program or presenting in a workshop, I can read the Braille with my fingers and not have to listen to speech (which may be distracting) or I don’t want people listening to the radio program or ion a workshop listening to speech.

32. Get OS X to bring up a list of word suggestions if your not sure how to complete a word.

33. Whilst I’m a VoiceOver user, I can appreciate all the full suite of accessibility tools that Apple fully supports across disabilities, and is still the only platform that makes an effort to fully support Braille displays.

Sunday, 7 February 2016

Apple AC Wall plug Adapter Exchange program

Initial text from Apple Support page concerning this recall.

Apple has determined that, in very rare cases, the two prong Apple AC wall plug adapters designed for use in Continental Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Argentina and Brazil may break and create a risk of electrical shock if touched. These wall plug adapters shipped from 2003 to 2015 with Mac and certain iOS devices, and were also included in the Apple World Travel Adapter Kit.

Customer safety is always Apple's top priority, and we have voluntarily decided to exchange affected wall plug adapters with a new, redesigned adapter, free of charge. We encourage customers to exchange any affected parts using the process below.

Note: Other wall plug adapters, including those designed for Canada, China, Hong Kong, Japan, United Kingdom, and United States and Apple USB power adapters are not affected by this program.

Identifying your wall plug adapter

Compare your adapter to the images below. An affected wall plug adapter has 4 or 5 characters or no characters on the inside slot where it attaches to an Apple power adapter. Redesigned adapters have a 3-letter regional code in the slot (EUR, KOR, AUS, ARG or BRA).

CSUN Conference Technology and Disability 2016 from March 22 to March 26 2016.

Coming up again with some hopefully interesting product announcements including (hopefully an announcement of the low cost Braille display which Vision Australia has been involved with in bringing to market.

The Time Buzz App for Apple watch

Turn your Apple watch in to a vibrating watch, really does feel like your waring a completely different watch. The app is only a few dollars, and the trick to using it is to have VoiceOver turned off via the Digital Crown, sounds muted, and have activate last app on wrist raised tunred on. Consequently, just raise your wrist, and get the time vibrated to you after tapping the screen.

Both physical unit and iOs app very accessible to people who are blind.

Introduction:

I’ve had my Ring Video Doorbell now for several days, and would like to share the following with you if you want to just know what it’s all about or you purchase one and want to get started and perhaps like me are blind, have an iPhone, and are looking at expanding your connect home.

1. What’s in the Box:

Ring Video Doorbell unit,

mounting bracket,

4 philips screws to attach bracket to wall,

plugs to insert in to brick drilled wholes for mounting bracket screws,

two star ended security screws to secure unit to mounting bracket,

double ended tool for securing philip screws and using the star ended security screws to secure unit to mounting bracket,

I must say, the box that the unit came in was well designed/compact, all the parts snuggly sitting in their own compartments. Everything was extremely easy to identify and find. Great that you just have everything to install the unit.

2. Physical Description of the Ring Video Doorbell:

Rectangular unit made of plastic (feels solid and good quality) which sits over the mounting bracket when attached to wall,

Mounting bracket felt a bit flimsy, but once unit attached and on wall, felt solid.

Just to make it clear, when installing the mounting bracket/unit, camera is above the ring button (don’t seem to explain this minor fact in the visual videos as visually its bleeding obvious smile).

Visually, the top of the unit where the camera is, is black, with the remainder of the case being silver, including the rung button which has a blue surround.

When the button is pressed, LED lights up on the button to show the caller that something as happened as well as the unit playing a Doorbell sound.

The unit is available in several colours, but I’m assuming that this silver one that I got is the default colour if no colour is specified in the order.

3. Installation/Setup:

Download and install the “Ring app from iOS App Store -

Ring Video Doorbell, Ring.com, Version 3.0.

Run the Ring app on the iOs device to create a user login or login with an existing account.

Press button at rear of Ring Video Doorbell to commence pairing to home Wi-Fi network.

The Wi-Fi pairing button is on the back of the unit. If you turn it over in the same orientation: i.e. with the camera now facing the table at the top of the unit: at the back on the left hand side at the same level of the 3 group of pins: you will find a round raised port with the button slightly indented in the middle: this is the pairing button.

Switch out of app and go to Settings, Wi-Fi, and tap on Ring to join the device to your Home Wi-Fi network putting in Wi-Fi password..

Switch back to app and complete setup of the Ring Doorbell: giving the it a name, updating the firmware if requested (which I did), etc.

Attach security screws to bottom of unit to secure on bracket and prevent theft.

Putting the mounting bracket on the wall, screwing it in with the 4 screws, slotting in the Ring Video Doorbell unit itself in to the mounting bracket, and securing with the two security screes took me less than 15 minutes: screwing screws in by hand is a pain smile.

30 day Cloud Recording trial offered when app is used. Allows user to go back and play video/audio recordings of Ring and Motion detected events over the last six months. Otherwise, only live events can be accessed as they occur.

4. Ring App Home Screen Controls (flicking top left to bottom right using VoiceOver):

Note: most of the controls on the screen are not identified as buttons, but activate when the 1 finger double tap is used with VoiceOver. I also found the easiest way to jump to the top or bottom of the screen was by using the 4 finger double tap VoiceOver gesture to go to the to or bottom of the screen when done at either the top or bottom of the screen.

Where VoiceOver has announced button, I’ve put the word “button” next to the control, otherwise it’s just the straight text.

Menu - top left - (brings up further options for Settings, Plan, Store etc.

My Devices (VoiceOver reporting this as a heading).

Ring, name of unit, owner

Note - the next control is not identified by Voiceover: i.e. when you flick on to it, you here the usual click from VoiceOver to denote you have landed on a control, but no announcement. 1 finger double tapping on this control brings up the Setup Wizard to install a Video Doorbell, Stick Up Cam, Chime or DoorBot, with a further button to purchase these devices from the Ring Store button. The title of the screen: Setup Wizard” is an identified heading by VoiceOver. To quit this screen, choose the Cancel button top right hand side of the screen.

Back to the controls after the silent control (Setup Wizard).

ALL ACTIVITY button - shows both Ring and Motion events on screen.

RING button - shows ring events on screen.

MOTION button shows motion events on screen.

When on of these 3 buttons are selected, VoiceOver will say “Selected” for each control: e.g. Selected All Activity button.

Note - depending on what buttons you have chosen above and if you have any events, you’ll get the following event information with 3 groups of buttons for each event (this is part of my ALL ACTIVITY screen):

delete white icon (deletes the video - brings up screen to either Delete or Cancel the action).

And so on. If there is no event information, place holder text appears letting the user know that event info will appear here for All Activities, Ring Activity or Motion Activity.

Note - Oddly, I found choosing the Delete button started playing the video the same way as choosing the event button, both video screens of which had the Delete button available.

If you do have Cloud Recording, just be aware that it will take some time for the recorded event to be uploaded to the cloud, so whilst you have the event in the list, it may be a while before you can actually play it immediately after the event which triggered it.

I’m assuming here (and I’ll probably register), that once you have registered for Cloud Recording, that this text will disappear.

In actual fact, this prompt does disappear once you have registered for Cloud Recording as I did after initially writing this post.

This completes the main home screen of the app.

5. Checking the Battery Level of the Ring Video Doorbell (from the Home screen):

Before going on to describe the menu option from the Home screen, if you need to check the battery of the Ring Video Doorbell unit itself, 1 finger double tap on the Ring Doorbell name just under My Devices heading, you will get the following screen:

Back button (top left of the screen)

name of unit heading

device settings option icon wh

BATTERY

button (yes the control is button - double tap to select, flick once and you’ll get battery status).

The USB port to charge the unit is on the back of the unit. If you turn it over in the same orientation: i.e. with the camera now facing the table at the top of the unit: at the back on the right hand side at the same level of the 3 group of pins: you will find the micro USB port.

After the button or battery actual status if you selected it, are the following controls:

RING ALERTS (heading)

SWITCH BUTTON ON (toggle

MOTION ALERTS (heading)

Switch button on (toggle

RECENT ACTIVITY

MOTION SETINGS

SHARED USERS

LINKED CHIMES (this is another chime you can connect to the Ring Video Doorbell that you can put somewhere else in the house).

Note - To exit this screen,choose the Back button top left to exit this screen.

6. Choosing Menu from the Home Screen of the App

Choosing the Menu control at the top left of the Home app screen, results in the following screen coming up at the bottom of the Home app screen to, dismiss this new information, double tap on the menu control at the top right of the screen, and you’ll return to the normal Home screen.

your name

your email address

MY DEVICES (heading but not identified as such by VoiceOver)

name of unit and location

SETINGS

ACCOUNT

MY PLAN

STORE

HELP CENTRE

LOG OUT

3.0 (Version of the app)

The only thing I found I couldn’t do without assistance in Settings was to set the Motion Zones.

The Help information is a combination of useful fact sheets and videos that are to the point and easy to follow.

7. Answering a Call from the Ring Video Doorbell:

When Ring Video Doorbell rings, after pressing the Ring Button on the physical doorbell, following dialog box appears in landscape mode with Home button to the right (flicking with VoiceOver from Left to right):

in-call icon Mic button,

in-call sound button,

in-call icon Zoom out button,

in-call icon ring plus 00 button,

End Button, and

Talk button.

Mic: mutes Mic when selected.

Sound: mutes sound when selected.

End: ends call when selected.

Talk: Talk to the person at your door.

One thing here I did notice, when this dialog came up, the volume of VoiceOver dropped dramatically and it was difficult to hear the controls when I was flicking over them. In addition, if your not using headphones on your iPhone, of course, the caller at the front door is going to hear VoiceOver as well.

The difference between the generated dialog for ring verses motion, is that on the motion dialog you don’t have the Mic button, just the Sound button where you can listen to what is going on to cause the motion event, and Talk button if you need to talk if there is indeed someone at your front door that didn’t ring the doorbell but got picked up because of the motion sensor..

Either the Ring or Motion notification will appear on the iPhone if not in the app: acting upon the notification will take you in to the app with the above dialogs to act upon.

When a video is playing, double tap to hide or show video controls with VoiceOver.

9. Final Thoughts so Far

I am very happy with how the Ring Video Doorbell itself is working and detecting motion, I still can’t believe how accessible the Ring app is besides the few minor issues I’ve pointed out so far, and I certainly feel a lot more secure at home.

This is a further continuation of my Connected Home adventure as it were: my Netatmo Urban Weather Station, WeMo Switch/Link Light System, and now Ring. Just for the record, I’m going to throw in my 6 AirPlay Speakers at home in to the mix as well.

The ring.com site where you can login I should also say is fairly accessible with a screen reader as well.

For more information on the Ring Video Doorbell, go to:

http://www.ring.com

Podcast coming in a week or so on my feed: http://davidwoodbr.podbean.com

Tuesday, 2 February 2016

Over the Dec/Jan period, talking tech did an interview with Dr Robert Carter and Jonathan Mosen.

Go to the following webpage of Talking Tech to listen to these interviews:

http://talkingtech.podbean.com

Now for the list of items that caught our attention.

ABC iView audio description trial.

Apple watch.

Apple Magic Keyboard.

iPhone 6s/6s plus extending Force Touch (3d Touch).

Apple Smart Battery case for iPhone 6s.

Apple music.

Apple tv 4th generation.

iPad pro.

Apple pay.

Audio Described Movies on iTunes:

Note - as of Feb 20 2016, there are over 25 Audio Described movies in the iTunes Store, and you can search by “AD”, “Audio Description”, “Audio Descriptions”, “Video Description” or “Video Descriptions”: works very nicely: following is just a sample of some of the audio described movies: both dedicated AD movies and movies with AD tracks.

Brave (For blind viewers),

Cars 2 (For blind viewers),

finding-nemo (for Blind Viewers),

monsters inc (for Blind Viewers), and

Up (for Blind Viewers).

Ant-Man.

Home.

Far from the Madding Crowd.

Kings-man: The Secret Service.

Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials.

Spy.

The Martian.

Netflix Audio Description now working again on the Apple tv 4th generation.